Winner of the Wednesday Blog Book Review Party and Blog Spotlight!

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Tina Peterson@FamilyLiteracyandYou



Be sure to check out  Family Literacy and You and leave a comment!


Email me so I can have the Amazon eGC delivered to your inbox.

Warms-
CYM

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Brenna from Paper and Ink via Design Sponge: Book Fabric

Look what I found over at Design Sponge: Book Fabric! There is also an awesome tutorial on how to make your own. Who is making their own Holiday Gifts this year? I am!

Resources:

Design Sponge

Paper & Ink

~XOXO~

beachbrights

(guestblogger)

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Book Review Party Wednesday (giveaway!) - Starts NOW

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner Friday (or Sat.). The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

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On Writing Fiction and a Request for Your Thoughts

In our travels in these weeks, I have thought about writing fiction. I suspect that all of you do as well, or you would not be interested in book review blogs.

I have been writing thrillers for about 15 years now. Initially, with my daughter Whitney when she studied at Oxford. We finished that work into a novel entitled The Phoenix Scenario. It involved a young woman struggling to be a lawyer married to a long estranged assassin; her boss is kidnapped by the German Fourth Reich which was ready to emerge and try again as the political pendulum in Europe swings to the right; he, and she, knew too much; Europe and the free world are imperiled by a form of evil that could not be imagined to establish defenses.

I then wrote Harvest of Gold, which involves a woman who is the beneficiary of a trust holding the long lost “Jewish Gold.” She leads life in a small East Texas lake community, which, unbeknownst to her, has been prepared for military assault as the trust comes to an end in 2000. She has spent a lifetime wondering who she is. Surrounded by death and kidnapping of her family, Molly solves the mysteries of her life as her side is branded enemies subject to attack by the U.S. military. I believe it is ready for publication. Agents have expressed interest in this story, but it has not yet been sold.

I wrote a manuscript entitled Everyman, which this title was used by Thomas Wolfe a few years ago so I had to find another, The Riddle of Berlin. I self-published this one in 2008. The story is set in Paris and along the Danube River. It has received interesting reviews, averaging about 3.5 on a 5.0 scale. As always, I learn from each review.

30,000 Camels is a sequel to The Riddle of Berlin. One of the heroes, a Vice President in the prior book, Lucius Alcorn, becomes President 10 years in the future. He has made the United Nations the only serious military force in the world and there is war with Iran. The bad guys discover that Alcorn has a daughter that even he was not aware of (and interesting story in itself), who they kidnap. Alcorn must address how to care for his personal interests (his daughter) as he undertakes his public responsibilities as leader of the world. The story is set Washington and Israel.

Most recently, I wrote The Dust Scenario involving a woman who has the secrets of the economic collapse of the past few years and is hunted by governments not wanting the truth to be revealed. She is aided by an assassin. The story is set in Rome and Tuscany. At the ThrillerFest in July 2010, I hoped to find an agent interested in this book. So far, nothing concrete.

I have also begun two other stories. One could be entitled My Child, which is story about a russian adopted boy living happily in America when a Russian mobster determines that the child is biologically his and will stop at nothing to obtain the boy.  My wonderful blogger, Beachbrights, and I have been working on this one. Lastly, one of my last novels could be Dad on the Shelf, which is a story about my feelings for my father. His ashes are still on the shelf.

As I have thought about all of this, I know that I love the process of writing and improving my skills. Each discussion group, agent discussion, reviews, and other event adds to my knowledge base. I am avid, persistent student. While commercial success has not yet arrived, enjoyment has been a bountiful harvest. I love it!

On the other hand, each dead end is frustrating. When hopes are dashed, it is only human to wonder if the cake is worth the candle. Should I give up? I always end up smiling at this, knowing that persistence will pay off, as it always has.

My question to myself is simple: how shall I proceed?

All of the reviews that we have published in the blog, and other places, have been instructive. I find that I enjoy the most reading books addressing emotion and life, and the least stories full of gruesome murder, violence, or seemingly endless chases with characters that seem flat as boards. I think of myself as a thriller writer. In each of the stories I have written, I know that I have tried to blend a thrilling story with characters having emotional issues that each of us face in our lives. I have thought that this makes the stories real, not escapist (like James Bond stories, to me at least). Some writers are able to do both, write a thrilling story with characters that are real. I have found this in Lon Land’s books about Kaitlin Strong, which I have reviewed.

I sometimes wonder if I bite off too much. Perhaps, I would be best advised to either write emotional stories or thrillers and not both. Hmmmm?

As I look out over the ocean from this lovely perch on the cliffs of Amalfi, I know what my path should be:

• Keep writing, reading, and reviewing.

• Seek an agent who is excited about my work and investing time and effort.

• Find a suitable self-publishing venue to get the stories out there.

~I know that many of you face these same questions. I would be fascinated with your thoughts~

Warms, Cym

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Where's Cym? (Part II)

Cym keeps sending me these wonderful photos of his travels and now his scrumptious food (per my request).  I am so jealous and living vicariously through him today. Lois@A Bluestockings Place guessed Cym's next week destination correctly.  INDIA.  There will be more pictures next week but for now more on Italy.

~XOXO~

beachbrights

(guest blogger)

From CYM:

1.  View from my room, Mt. Vesuvius in background.

2.  Some travelers come to Italy in anticipation of fufulling their gastronomic expectations for fine Italian food, especially along the Amalgi Coast!
3.  On beach in Seiano, 5 miles from Sorrento.

4.  The Best of Amalfi! We are staying at the five star Angiolieri in Seiano. Tonight, we walked up the hill and had the best Italian there is! Here is the menu. We meant to take a before picture . . . but the aroma over-powered us, so here is the after (see #5). And now, back to the wonderful local wine and an evening of gazing at Vesuvius or . . .well, you know.

5. Read #4

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Where's Cym?

Can you guess where Cym has been this past week (answers below)?

Guess where he is going next week? 

Maybe a prize should be given for the first correct commentor who guesses Cym's next destination?

Hint: Bananas were discovered here in 327 BC by Alexander the Great.

~XOXO~

Beachbrights

(guest blogger)

Answers for pictures above (from Cym):

1. Beautiful Amalgi Coast. Here we are at Vietri Sul Mare, a charming village close to Sorrento, Capri and the other charming destinations.   

2. Sorrento on a Partly Sunny Morning: it is warm in the sunshine, cool in the shade, and breathtakingly beautiful all day long. On to Pompeii, Vesuvius, and Environs.  

3. Scylla and Charybdis at Capri: on the water sailing into that small hole makes the trek of Odysseus all the more impressive. So far, no bad margherita pizza or wine in Southern Italy.  

4. The Greek ruins of Paestum, close to Vesuvius 

5. Pompeii   

6. Here I am departing Vietri Sul Mare on our way to Sorrento 

More pictures to come!

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Book Review Party Wednesday (giveaway!) - Starts Now

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner Friday (or Sat.). The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

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Foxy: My Life in Three Acts

Foxy: My Life in Three Acts, a Memoir
by Pam Grier with Andrea Cagan
Springboard/Hachette Book Group 2010


So, who are you? What are the triumphs and nightmares of your life? Who have you loved? Who has loved you? Why have you cast away those who were your lovers? Can you bear to be honest about your feelings about those people, whether they are famous or anonymous? Have some events almost destroyed your self-confidence? Do you have the strength to overcome those times? Or to explain what they have meant in the remainder of your life?

If any of these questions interest you, then you need to read Foxy. IT is not a story about sensuality or exploitation by self or others. It is a story of strength and character. Determination to lead life on one’s own terms, regardless of the cost or the inconsistency with convention norms in the world in which one lives. Whether you are a movie star or an ordinary person, the thoughts and emotions in Foxy are illuminating.

Pam Grier is a famous actress, arising from black exploitation films to the “A” List. Her story is compelling. The prose flow flawlessly to create an image of a strong, self-reliant woman raised in the Rocky Mountains and confronting life with the steely self-determination of someone who has wrestled Grizzly bears on their own turf.

She seeks happiness on her own terms. With all of that strength of character, she is able to see the flaws and dead ends in the men who seem to keep appearing on her horizon. Pam has in mind what she wants, and moves on when it is apparent that this man cannot or will not provide what she needs.

Pam’s ability to explain the traumas in her life, whether cancerous conditions that might arise from a lover injecting cocaine into her cervix or lovers revealed to be just one more person seeking to take advantage of her, is amazing and refreshing. “The worst parts of life can be transformed into beauty.”

I read this wonderful book in one sitting on an airplane to London. I could not put it down? Why? Because it is so full of life, vigor, and enthusiasm. When I was done, I wanted to get a nice bottle of wine and sit down to discuss with Pam my impressions of the meaning of her story for the rest of us.

We all need to be rescued. Pam rescues horses and other animals on her farm. She has tried to rescue some famous men and women. I hope she is blessed with what she seeks for herself.

My only criticism of Foxy is in the title. This magnificent book is not about being foxy, it is about having the courage to live and overcome events that would be devastating to most people, including advice that her cancer might not allow her t olive for more than a period of months. Perhaps the title could have been Courage to Overcome!

You will also not put this one down until you close the over and look forward to that wine and discussion with a fascinating student of life.

Warms, Cym

















**As with all my reviews, if you have reviewed this book, please add a link to your review in the comment section** This gives readers several opinions!

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Amalfi Coast and a Winner!

Beautiful Amalfi Coast. I am at Vietre Sul Mare, a charming village close to Sorrento, Capri and the other charming destinations.  Beachbrights will be helping me with my blog this week because I am not sure on my internet access.  I will send more pictures and keep you posted!  Thanks for a great book review link-up party and congrats to the winner!

Warms, CYM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the winner of the Amazon Gift Card ($15 value) from Wednesday's Review Party is...

(**Drums Rolling in the Background**)

Congratulations to Jo-Jo Loves to Read



Be sure to check out Jo-Jo Loves to Read and leave a comment!


Email me so I can have the Amazon eGC delivered to your inbox.

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Postertext

How about your favorite novel in a poster?  I thought that this would make great art for a book lover!  

Postertext

~XOXO~

beachbrights

guestblogger

*original article found at Uncrate

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Book Review Party Wednesday (giveaway!) - Starts NOW

<a href="http://cymlowell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="CymLowell" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2442/3960797566_f11cfb2f41_o.jpg" /></a>

Welcome to Book Review Party Wednesday.

It is real simple. Link up any (old or new, any genre) book review that you have written to the below MckLinky.

A couple of things to remember while you're linking.

1. Add a permalink to your specific post, not the main page of your blog (only one review per blog).
2. Add my Book Review Wednesday Badge or a link-back to the party at the end of your review post.
3. List the name of your blog, Title of Book or Genre. Be sure to use spaces and limit characters to 50. For example: The Lost Symbol, thriller

4. Become a follower of my blog, pretty please (not mandatory).
5. Visit the other linked up reviews and leave comments....it's a party, have fun!
6. I will announce the winner Friday. The winner is chosen from the linked up reviewers using Random Number Generator. All included.

I am so excited to be reading all the reviews! This is always so much fun and gives me the opportunity to add new books to my list (& now check out book covers).

-CYM

Read More

Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America

Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America
by Kurt Andersen
Random House 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1400068982

Renewal is a critically important element of life. In the economic distress that has afflicted America, and the rest of the world, in the past two years, we have all wished for renewal in our financial lives.

In this insightful, succinct, and easily readable book, Kurt Andersen reviews the profligacy that infected all of us over the past twenty or so years. Whether it is the size of our homes or our bodies, we all consumed way too much (in what is described as the “casino economy”). The price of gluttony ultimately had to be paid, and payment was made in a wrenching, involuntary manner.

Mr. Andersen traces the change from pride in how much we spend to how little we consume and save more than at any time in long memory. While that saving spirit dampens consumer spending across the economy, and holds back job creation, it also poses the fuel for economic renewal in our individual and cultural lives.

We are also treated to a pragmatic assessment of the elements of our national strength that will power our renewal: (i) immigration (much of our strength as a nation comes from the addition of new, hard working Americans; (ii) new generations of technology; and (iii) the flowering of our amateur spirit (meaning the lightness of beginning anew). In other words, we are poised to reset and move on, both personally and nationally.

This is an insightful, interesting read. It will make you think about your own live in these years, concluding with the seeds of optimism – the American spirit.

Warms, Cym

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